It may be weird, but I am fascinated by the lives of those written and how long one may have lived.
I feel the excitement of seeing someone who lived to be quite old and I feel the mother's loss of someone who died so young.
When we were at Carolina Beach this summer we went to a local garden which had an old church on the premises. We were once again drawn to the graveyard next to the church.
I stumbled across this grave and it has spoken to me since. It was of a set of girls who were young. Sisters who died close together in dates. My Mother's Heart was saddened as I thought of the parents and how they felt when they buried their loved ones.
The part that spoke to me the most was what the inscription said underneath the dates of their deaths:
How appropriate, especially in their grief, for the family to state "Truly, in the midst of life we are in death."
I am sure that many people faced death long ago so much more often than we do in our day. It was such a part of life from the young to the older. There were no antibiotics or other medical means in which to save a life as we have today. Even though we still experience death and it is painful, we do not have face it as often as they did. It truly was such a part of their daily lives.
As I began to muse over that statement, though, it took me to another place.
A spiritual place.
In our life, there must be death of ourselves so that the life of Christ may shine through. So, truly, in the midst of this life we ARE in death.
The death of ourselves.
I have been reading a lot this summer, as I always desire to do. In my readings, I am learning more and more about my sin nature and how I must die to it daily.
Unfortunately, that is a daily battle.
What exactly does it mean to be living but be in death at the same time?
Does it mean I am to walk around with a sad look on my face?
Does it mean I am never to have joy or fun times?
No.
It means just what I wrote above - a daily, continual death of MY thoughts, MY desires, MY wants.
We have this nature inside of us that is determined to get what IT wants and doesn't want to think of what the Lord really wants out of our lives.
The "IT" could be something as simple as a grumble about something not going our way and getting really upset in a situation to demanding what I want and what I need ... or so I think.
How can I be in the midst of life yet die... to myself?
I recently read a short biography of Amy Carmichael, missionary to India in the late 1800's to early 1900's. It wet my appetite enough that I am searching for a more in-depth biography of her life. Something in that book made me stop and think about that tombstone above. You see, Amy Carmichael was born Irish and she had the quick wit and bit of a smart mouth to prove it. The Lord began to show her that HER ways of handling things were not always the best.
I love this quote the best from the biography I read. The context was Amy's dealings with a "stuffy old woman" who was sticking her nose in where it did not need to be:
"Amy's Irish temper flared up in a moment. She wanted to burst out, 'You stuffy old woman! You probably never had a day of fun in your life! If being a 'true lady' means being like you, I hope I never have to become one!' But the words never left her mouth. A voice spoke to her heart, so clearly that it was as if someone were standing by her side, but she knew that the voice came from inside her heart. 'See in this a chance to die,' it said."
"See in this a chance to die."
Those words have stuck with me and the Lord has already brought them to my mind many times.
Die to self.
Die to your own desires.
Die while you are still living so that you will have greater life.
When you want to make that smart remark, see in this a chance to die.
When you want to get even, see in this a chance to die.
When you want to get angry and hold a grudge, see in this a chance to die.
When you want to have your own way, see in this a chance to die.
When your pride wants control, see in this a chance to die.
When your pride wants control, see in this a chance to die.
I love how The Message translates II Corinthians 4:7-12. We are in our human form - "jars of clay", but when we realize it is Christ Who lives in us and gives us what we need to die to self daily, we benefit all the more:
7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!
As the song "Touch the Sky" from Hillsong United states ~ "I found my life when I lay it down."
See every moment in the midst of life as a chance to die to yourself.
See it as a way for these attributes of God to shine through you as you show Christ through your life:
Selfless
Truthful
Faithful
Mercy
Grace
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